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  • November 18, 2009 | Events | ISBA News
    Lincoln's Legacy: Lawyers Who Protect Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
    [gallery link="file" columns="2"] The Illinois State Bar Association's Joint Meeting begins with a special program on Thursday, Dec. 10, Lincoln's Legacy: Lawyers Who Protect Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- including a keynote address by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and a panel discussion moderated by WTTW Chicago Tonight Host Phil Ponce. The event begins at 1 p.m. and is sponsored by the Diversity Leadership Council. In celebration of President Obama's Call to Service and International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), learn how lawyers are making a difference through their work in advancing human rights, equality and other social movements. Find out about opportunities to make a difference and how you can make a contribution to social justice through volunteerism as well as with the clients you serve. A variety of organizations that provide services fitting the "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness" will be on hand so that you can explore this marketplace to discover how you can best use your talents to "make a difference". 1:00 p.m.     Welcome & Introductions by President John O'Brien 1:30 p.m.     Keynote Address by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan 1:45 p.m.     Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness Panel moderated by Phil Ponce, WTTW-TV 2:45 p.m.     Diversity Leadership Award Presentation 3:00 p.m.     Call to Service Marketplace
  • November 17, 2009 | ISBA News | Practice News
    ISBA Lawyer Finder makes over 650 referrals in October
    The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays.  The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of October, 2009, the ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:
    • Administrative Law    11
    • Animal Law        1
    • Bankruptcy        25
    • Business Law        14
    • Civil Disputes         62
    • Civil Rights        11
    • Collection        20
    • Consumer Protection    24
    • Contracts        14
    • Criminal Law        45
    • Education Law        13
    • Elder law         3
    • Employment Law    83
    • Estate/Probate Law    29
    • Family            119
    • Government Benefits    18
    • Health Law        4
    • Immigration        4
    • Insurance Disputes        4
    • Intellectual Property        1
    • Municipal Law            1
    • Personal Injury            82
    • Real Estate            62
    • Social Security            8
    • Tax                1
    • Workers Compensation        9
    These numbers do not include additional referrals made through the online Lawyer Finder service. Want to be part of the ISBA Lawyer Finder Service? Call (800) 252-8908 and ask for the Legal Department, or visit www.illinoislawyerfinder.com Clients should call (800) 922-8757.
  • November 12, 2009 | ISBA News
    ISBA President John O'Brien offers advice on avoiding foreclosure in Champaign News-Gazette
    [caption id="attachment_5637" align="alignright" width="150" caption="ISBA President John O'Brien"][/caption] ISBA President John O'Brien offered advice on avoiding home foreclosure and other topics in an interview in today's Champaign News-Gazette. "Be proactive. Call somebody. You've got 10 months before you're really in trouble. You've got a lot of time to do something," said John G. O'Brien, a real estate attorney from Arlington Heights who founded the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association. Click here to read the full story
  • November 10, 2009 | ISBA News | Practice News
    ISBA Board of Governors member April Troemper appointed associate judge
    [caption id="attachment_5578" align="alignright" width="144" caption="April Troemper"][/caption] Cynthia Cobbs, Director of Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that April Troemper received a majority of the votes cast by the circuit judges in the Seventh Judicial Circuit and is declared appointed to the office of associate judge. Ms. Troemper, a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Board of Governors, received her undergraduate degree in 1995 from Eastern Illinois University and her Juris Doctor in 1998 from Southern Illinois University. Ms. Troemper is currently affiliated with the law firm Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen & Cochran in Springfield.
  • November 10, 2009 | Events | ISBA News
    ISBA to recognize 1959 Class of Senior Counsellors
    You are invited to join President John O'Brien in recognizing the 1959 Class of Senior Counsellors of the Illinois State Bar Association on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, 301 E. North Water, Chicago. The event will begin with a reception in Chicago Ballroom Six at 11:15 a.m. and will continue with a luncheon at noon. Tickets are $65 per person and tables of 10 are available. Advance reservations required. For further information contact JoAnn Hibbs at jhibbs@isba.org or call 1-800-678-4009. Click below for the full list of the 1959 Class of Senior Counsellors.
  • November 5, 2009 | ISBA News | Member Services
    ISBA launches Illinois Lawyer Now Weekly
    To make it easier for our busy members to follow the online news site Illinois Lawyer Now, the ISBA will begin sending a digest of the site via e-mail. Members should expect the first issue of Illinois Lawyer Now Weekly to arrive in their e-mail inboxes Thursday evening. This issue will include the Practice News, Photos, Events, CLE information and legal news headlines that were featured on Illinois Lawyer Now over the past week. Weekly tips on Fastcase, legal writing and law practice management are also included. This is a benefit only available to ISBA members. Enjoy! Please send any feedback on this publication to cbonjean@isba.org.
  • October 30, 2009 | ISBA News
    IBF Awards $20,000 Grant to Illinois Legal Aid Online
    [caption id="attachment_5167" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Board member Shawn Kasserman (right) of Chicago presents a $20,000 check to Lisa Colpoys, Illinois Legal Aid Online Executive Director."][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $20,000 grant to Illinois Legal Aid Online, one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995.
  • October 29, 2009 | ISBA News
    Nominations being accepted for John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award
    The Illinois State Bar Association Committee on Delivery of Legal Services is seeking nominations for the 2009-2010 ISBA John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award. The award is named in memory of Rock Island attorney John McAndrews who was the driving force behind establishment of the Illinois Pro Bono Center as integral to implementation of findings of the Illinois Legal Needs Study that about a million unresolved civil matters involving low-income residents were unmet each year. The submission deadline is Monday, March 15, 2010. The John C. McAndrews Award honors the extraordinary commitment of individuals, bar associations, or law firm/corporate legal departments to providing free legal services to the income eligible in Illinois or expanding the availability of legal services to the income eligible in Illinois. Presentation of the awards will take place during the ISBA Annual Meeting in June 2010. Click here for more information regarding the award criteria and to download a copy of the submission form.
  • October 27, 2009 | ISBA News
    IBF awards grant to Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in Chicago
    [caption id="attachment_5039" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Board Member Caesar Tabet of Chicago presents a $5,000 grant check to Brendan Short of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in Chicago."][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $5,000 grant to Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law in Chicago, one of 32 grants awarded in 2009 totaling $304,995. The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law champions economic opportunity through fair laws and policies so that people can move out of poverty permanently. Their attorneys and advocates engage in a wide range of activities, including policy development, impact litigation, community organizing, education, information sharing, and administrative, legislative and media advocacy. While the organization is national is scope, many of the programs it operates focus exclusively on Illinois and it translates those experiences to the national level. This grant specifically supports its Safe Homes Initiative. According to the US Department of Justice, women living in rental housing experience intimate partner violence at three times the rate of women who own their homes. Illinois' Safe Homes Act permits a victim of domestic violence who lives in rental housing to break her lease early or request an emergency lock change if she believes there is an imminent threat of domestic violence against herself or her family.
  • October 26, 2009 | ISBA News | Practice News
    Illinois Law to review recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions
    [caption id="attachment_5018" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Appearing on the shows are (front, from left) program moderator John T. Theis, a Chicago lawyer; Cecil J. Hunt II, a professor at The John Marshall Law School; and Michele M. Jochner, judicial law clerk to Justice Charles Freeman of the Illinois Supreme Court; and (rear) Hon. Leonard Murray, an associate judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County"][/caption] The Illinois State Bar Association's Illinois Law cable program will air "Review of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions" throughout the month of November. This two-part series will air on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on CAN-TV Cable Channel 21. Appearing on the shows will be program moderator John T. Theis, a Chicago lawyer; Cecil J. Hunt II, a professor at The John Marshall Law School; Michele M. Jochner, judicial law clerk to Justice Charles Freeman of the Illinois Supreme Court; and Hon. Leonard Murray, an associate judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County Part 1 will air on Nov. 3 and Nov.